


Concert Gardening

by Juli



Series: Days of Summer [10]
Category: NCIS: Los Angeles
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-11
Updated: 2012-08-11
Packaged: 2017-11-11 23:02:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/483861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juli/pseuds/Juli
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If there was a Plant Humane Society, Callen would be in a lot of trouble.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Concert Gardening

**Author's Note:**

> Counting down the days of summer with a ficlet a day during August.

For once, Callen wasn’t the first one awake. Usually Eric liked to linger in bed as long as he could get away with, while Callen’s restlessness drove him out with the sunrise. The older man would take a run along the beach or do other exercise to pass the time until Eric joined him. Patting the sheet next to him, Callen found it cold; Eric was not only gone, but he’d been gone for a while.

A quick look out of the window showed the sun in full shine, so Callen knew he’d slept longer than usual. Not too surprising, given the late night he and Sam’d had the night before, babysitting a suspect. Thankfully, Eric had been sent home much earlier and Callen had followed later. Shrugging off the last of his sleepiness, Callen got out of bed and quickly decided to put off a shower until he knew what was going on with his lover. Maybe if he got really lucky, Eric would share a shower with him. 

After dressing in a worn pair of jeans and a faded red t-shirt, Callen padded down the corridor to the kitchen. It, too, was empty, but Callen could smell the welcome fragrance of warm coffee, so he knew that Eric was up and around. Callen poured himself a mug and inhaled the rich aroma gratefully before taking a sip. Eric made good coffee.

As he slowly drank and woke up more fully, Callen listened. He’d found that it was a more effective way of tracking Eric down than looking for him visually. The younger man loved to sing and Callen smiled as he heard Eric’s voice coming from the backyard. His tracking method had worked with its customary success.

Reluctantly, Callen decided to leave his coffee behind as he went to join his lover. It was morning, but he could tell already that it was going to be a hot day. Hands in his pockets, he left the house for the backyard. 

It still blew Callen’s mind on a regular basis that he now owned a house. He didn’t know his first name and had only discovered the barest of hints about his background, but he had a house. At hearing the chorus of a now-familiar song, Callen grinned. He had a house and he had Eric; despite the mysteries in his life, Callen was more content than he could ever remember being.

When he got to the back of the house, Callen stepped outside quietly. He didn’t sneak up on Eric to scare him, but he did love those moments when he could watch the younger man unobserved. This particular morning, he got an eyeful.

At first glance, it seemed as though Eric was tending to the flowering plants in Callen’s backyard. Someone had to, Callen supposed. The poor things came with the house, but if there was a man who knew less about plant care than Callen, he had yet to meet him. 

Eric had on an old pair of cut-offs and one of the surfing shirts he was forbidden to wear to work. He had an uprooted weed in one hand and a wooden-handled trowel in the other. In short, Eric certainly looked like he was gardening. At the same time, though, he was using the trowel like it was a microphone and was singing into it. He had his trusty iPod hooked to the waistband of his pants, with the ear buds just visible through Eric’s curly hair.

Concert gardening; Callen liked it. Then again, if Eric was involved, that was an absolute given.

Callen waited until Eric was finished with the song and then he clapped enthusiastically. Eric jumped what seemed like a foot. When he turned around to face Callen, Eric was flushing a furious red. 

“I hope I didn’t wake you.” Eric said sheepishly as he removed the ear buds. “I was trying to be quiet, but you know how I get with Sinatra.”

“No, you didn’t wake me.” Callen stepped forward for a short, chaste good morning kiss. “And, yes, I know how you get with ol’ Blue Eyes.”

Eric leaned into him. “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Callen laughed softly and kissed Eric again, this time a little less chastely. “What are you doing out here so early?”

“It’s nine o’clock,” Eric pointed out. “That’s not so early.”

“For you? On a day off?” Callen was skeptical. “It definitely is. Now give.”

Eric shrugged. “It’s not a state secret or anything. The weather said it’s going to be a scorcher today, so I thought I’d get this stuff done early before it got too hot.”

Callen looked around at the state of the yard and sighed. “If there was a Plant Humane Society, I’d be in a lot of trouble.”

“It’s not that bad.” Eric also looked around and then shrugged. “Okay, it is that bad, but that’s okay. We’ll get it under control.”

“How about we get breakfast instead?” Callen suggested. Maybe once he got Eric back in the house, maybe he could convince him to go back to bed.

“All right.” Eric let himself be led a couple of steps to the house before he stopped. “Wait a minute; let me get the sprinkler going.”

Callen didn’t even know he had a sprinkler. He watched with something akin to amazement as Eric hook a hose up to a metal contraption, then went to the side of the house and turned on a faucet. Within moments, water was shooting up in a graceful arc. Eric watched with satisfaction and, as he came back to Callen, he jumped through the water.

“What are you doing?” Callen asked, confused about why Eric was laughing as if in delight. “Now you’re all wet.”

“Haven’t you ever jumped through a sprinkler?” Eric asked. “Every kid does it.”

It was at the oddest moments that it hit Callen in the face that his childhood had been so different than what most people had experienced. Eric must have seen his pang of uncertainty in his expression. 

“Not even here?” Eric said, his hand sweeping to include the house. Callen had told the young man shortly after Hetty had arranged for him to buy this house why she’d chosen it. The house had been the foster home that Callen had been happiest at.

Callen shook his head, his eyes looking off into the distance as he searched his memories. “No, not even here.”

“Well.” Eric both looked and sounded determined. “It’s about time you try.”

Eric took Callen’s hand in a surprisingly strong grip. Before the agent knew what was happening, Eric had tugged him to the sprinkler and through the water.

“Well?” Eric looked at him in expectation. “What do you think?”

Callen looked for the right word. What he felt was damp, but he had a feeling that Eric was looking for more than that. “Scintillating.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “You know, for a professional undercover agent, you don’t lie very well.”

Smiling ruefully, Callen shook his head. “Sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault,” Eric’s mischievous grin gave him away. “You just haven’t tried it under the right circumstances.” He tapped Callen’s chest. “Tag, you’re it.”

Eric whooped and took off running. Callen recovered quickly, grinned and gave chase. The two men ran around the yard like a couple of kids. Eric made sure that their path took them through the sprinkler several times and by the time they were winded, Callen was more than damp and happy to be that way.

Finally, Callen ended the game by tackling Eric onto the soft grass. The younger man was breathless with both the running and the laughing. He also wasn’t the slightest bit intimidated by Callen pinning him to the ground.

“What do you think about sprinklers now?” Eric asked. Even behind his glasses, Callen could see how those bright eyes twinkled.

“I’m definitely in favor.” Callen stole a kiss. “But as a shower, they do leave something to be desired.”

Eric hummed with pleasure. “And now that you mention it, I’m hungry.” 

“Shower, then breakfast,” Callen stated. He got to his feet and pulled Eric up with him. The younger man was definitely a lot wetter than he was. Callen definitely approved how Eric’s normally oversized shorts were clinging to his body.

“Sounds good.” Eric headed towards the house. When Callen didn’t immediately follow, Eric turned back towards him. “You coming?”

“Be right there.” Callen waved at Eric. “You go on in, get the water hot.”

Eric looked at him uncertainly, then shrugged and headed inside. As he passed Callen, the older man slapped him on the butt. “Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t,” Callen assured his lover and, with the way the fabric of Eric’s shorts was currently plastered against his ass, he wouldn’t linger. Breakfast might just have to wait.

As soon as Eric was inside, Callen took a moment to look slowly around his yard and the back of his house. Hetty had done it again; known what he needed before he did. He silently told himself to buy her some special tea as a thank you.

Turning to go inside, Callen looked at the sprinkler. Grinning madly, he took one last jump over it. He was almost glad he’d missed the experience as a child, because it was more than worth waiting for.

Whistling a jaunty tune, Callen headed inside, but his agile mind was already planning the fun that Eric and he could have with the sprinkler later.

~the end~


End file.
